Interstate 195 (Rhode Island

Interstate 195
Route information
Length:	44.55 mi (71.7 km)
Existed:	1958 (completed in 1990) – present
Major junctions
West end:	I-95 / US 6 in Providence, RI
	Route 24 in Fall River, MA
East end:	I-495 / Route 25 in Wareham, MA
Highway system
Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System Main • Auxiliary • Business

Interstate 195 (abbreviated I-195) is an Interstate Highway running a combined 40.1 miles (64.5 km) in the U.S. states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It travels from a junction with Interstate 95 in Providence, Rhode Island east to a junction with Interstate 495 and Route 25 in Wareham, Massachusetts. It runs east–west and passes through the cities of Fall River, Massachusetts and New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Interstate 195 provides a major direct highway route from New York to Cape Cod via I-95 through Providence as well as for travelers coming from Connecticut, western Massachusetts and other Rhode Island points. Its major junction with I-95 in Downtown Providence provides a direct connection, since improved with the section in downtown Providence being replaced and moved to the south to lie just south of the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier.

Route description

Interstate 195 begins at Interstate 95 at a semi-directional T interchange, known as the Iway Project. The road begins concurrent with US 6. From there it continues across the Providence River via the Providence River Bridge where it picks up US 44 and US Route 1A. The road continues into East Providence and all three roads respectively leave the freeway. From there it enters Seekonk, Massachusetts. From there the road continues east to Fall River where it has a brief concurrency with MA 24. It then continues through Southeastern Massachusetts passing through New Bedford where it has an interchange with MA 140. From there it turns northeast and ends at Interstate 495 and MA 25 with a trumpet interchange.

History

I-195 in Fall River, photo from 1968

MA-79 split at I-195 near the Braga Bridge

Predating I-195 were two sections of road - Fox Point Boulevard and the Washington Bridge. The Washington Bridge, crossing the Seekonk River between Providence and East Providence, was opened on September 25, 1930, replacing an 1885 swing bridge with a higher bascule bridge. A new eastbound bridge opened in November 1968.[1]

Fox Point Boulevard, later George M. Cohan Boulevard, was a surface boulevard connecting the Washington Bridge west to the Point Street Bridge and downtown Providence. It was built with no cross traffic by using U-turn ramps in the median to reverse direction. This was the last part in Providence to be built as a freeway, opened in December 1968.

The first freeway section came off the west end of Cohan Boulevard and over the Providence River, ending at the one-way pair of Pine Street and Friendship Street, which opened in November 1958. The ramp to Pine Street has been closed, but the entrance from Friendship Street still exists. The I-95 interchange at this end opened in fall 1964; the Pine Street ramp was kept for a while.

The next section to be constructed was the part in East Providence. It opened to the last exit before the state line on December 15, 1959, and was extended into Massachusetts by August 1960.

Before the Interstate Highway System numbering was decided upon, I-195 was planned as a relocation of US 6; in fact, all but the last section were signed as US 6 when built (the first section only eastbound though). In 1957, the number Interstate 95E was assigned, as all intercity routes were numbered before the three-digit Interstate numbering was chosen, and the Providence-New Bedford route was too long to be considered intracity. The I-195 designation was assigned in 1959 with the final numbering. At some time after 1976, the definition of I-195 was extended east to I-495 (which was itself extended).

I-195 still carries US 6, now in both directions, from I-95 to the last interchange before Massachusetts. It also carries US 1A and US 44 over the Washington Bridge and its approaches, though the former has almost no signs.

Until around 1990, the US 6 freeway from RI 10 at Olneyville west to I-295 was signed as RI 195.

The recently closed right of way in Providence

Iway

Main article: Iway

Interstate 195's stretch through Providence was reconstructed due to the sharp curves and the way the road cuts through part of the city. The relocation made the segment safer for traffic, reunified the Jewellery District with Downcity Providence, and freed up more space. In the process, some 35 buildings, housing over 80 businesses and six residences were demolished.^[1] The new stretch of highway is being called the Iway by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation and includes a signature bridge over the Providence River^[2] as well as a landscaped pedestrian walkway over the highway. It connects India Point Park to the Fox Point neighborhood. The IWay was opened in 2009 and estimated to have cost $446 million. The demolition of the old road is to be completed by 2012.^[3]

Exit list

State	County	Location	#	Mile[4]	Destinations	Notes
Rhode Island	Providence	Providence		0.00	I-195 begins at I-95, overlapped with U.S. Route 6
				0.0	I-95 / US 6 New York, Boston, Hartford	Interstate 195 is fully transitioned over to the new right of way with access ramps to Interstate 95 North and Point street
			1A	0.0	Point Street (Interstate 195 WB only)
			1B	0.0	Eddy Street (Interstate 195 WB only)
			2	0.7	East: Wickenden Street – India Point West: US 44 West (South Main Street)	To US 1A south (not signed), US 44/US 1A joins I-195.
				0.7	US-1A / US-44 join I-195 / US-6
			3	1.1	Gano Street
		East Providence	4	1.8	US 44 east (Taunton Avenue) – Riverside	Partial interchange: EB exit/WB entrance only, US 44 leaves I-195/US 6/US 1A
				1.8	U.S. Route 44 leaves I-195 / US-1A / US-6
			5	2.0	Route 103 east (Warren Avenue)	Partial interchange: EB exit/WB entrance only Old US 6.
			6	2.4	Broadway	Westbound access to US 44 and Route 103
			7	3.0	Route 114 south – Barrington	Partial interchange: EB exit/WB entrance only East Shore Expressway
			8	3.2	US 6 east US 1A north (Pawtucket Avenue) to Route 114 north – Rumford	Partial interchange: EB exit/WB entrance only, US 6/1A leaves I-195.
				3.2	US-1A / US-6 leaves I-195
				3.82 0.00	I-195 crosses Massachusetts-Rhode Island state border
Massachusetts	Bristol	Seekonk	1	0.58	Route 114A – Seekonk, Barrington, RI	Provides quick access to U.S. Route 6
		Swansea	2	4.62	Route 136 south - Warren, RI, Newport, RI	Rte. 136's northern terminus is at this point.
			3	7.47	US 6 / Route 118 – Swansea	Exit recently expanded; the Swansea Mall is located at the intersection of Rtes. 6 & 118.
		Somerset	4	9.85	Route 103 (Lee's River Avenue) – Somerset	Split into 4A-B westbound; 4B heads eastbound on Wilbur Ave/Rte. 103, 4A heads westbound. Eastbound Exit 4 connects to Lee's River Ave., which terminates just south of the exit at Rte. 103.
		Charles M. Braga Jr. Memorial Bridge over the Taunton River
		Fall River	5	11.98	Route 79 north / Route 138 – Taunton, N. Tiverton, RI	Southern terminus of Rte. 79 is at this exit. Both sides split after exit to northbound (Rtes. 79/138) and southbound (Rte. 138 only). Exit is at the eastern end of the Charles M. Braga Jr. Memorial Bridge on the eastern banks of the Taunton River.
			6	12.42	Pleasant Street (Westbound)/Hartwell Street (Eastbound) - Downtown Fall River	Both exits provide downtown access to Fall River.
			7	12.70	Route 81 south (Plymouth Avenue)	Northern terminus of Rte. 81. Exits 6 and 7 share an access ramp on both sides.
			8A	13.77	Route 24 south - Tiverton, RI, Newport, RI	Route 24 joins eastbound and leaves westbound.
					Route 24 joins I-195
			8B	14.60	Route 24 north – Boston	Route 24 leaves eastbound and joins westbound.
					Route 24 leaves I-195
		Westport	9	15.35	Sanford Road - N. Westport	Eastbound exit only, no entrances. (Road actually terminates just north of Sanford Rd. on Old Bedford Rd., which was rerouted at the time of original construction.)
			10	16.34	Route 88 south - Horseneck Beach	Northern terminus of Rte. 88; also provides quick access to Rte. 6 at first exit.
		Dartmouth	11	19.43	Reed Road - Hixville, Dartmouth	Split into 11A-B westbound; 11B heads north towards Hixville, 11A heads towards Dartmouth and North Westport.
			12	21.98	Faunce Corner Road - N. Dartmouth	Split into 12A-B westbound; 12B heads north towards Faunce Corner; 12A heads south on Faunce Corner Mall Rd towards the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
		New Bedford	13A-B	23.77	Route 140 – Dartmouth, Taunton
			14	24.62	Penniman Street	Eastbound exit/westbound entrance only.
			15	25.09	Route 18 south - Downtown New Bedford	No access to Route 18 North from I-195 in either direction. No access to I-195 from Route 18 South. Access to I-195 East and West from Rte. 18 North.
			16	25.43	Washburn Street	Eastbound exit/entrance only.
			17	25.54	Coggeshall Street	Westbound exit/entrance only.
		Fairhaven	18	27.25	Route 240 south – Fairhaven	To U.S. Route 6; northern terminus of Route 240.
	Plymouth	Mattapoisett	19A-B	30.92	Mattapoisett/N. Rochester	Exit serves North St., which heads south towards US-6 and Mattapoisett Harbor and north towards Rochester.
		Marion	20	35.13	Route 105 – Marion, Rochester	Rte. 105 heads south towards Rte. 6 and Marion Harbor and north towards Rochester. Also provides access to the western parts of Wareham.
		Wareham	21	39.23	Route 28 – Wareham, South Middleboro	Ramps recently upgraded with stoplights to accommodate new Wareham Crossing shopping center just northwest of the junction. Southbound heads towards Wareham harbor.
			22A	39.93	Route 25 east - Cape Cod	Western terminus of Route 25; is the same roadway as I-495. Eastbound junction/westbound entrance.
			22B	40.73	I-495 north – Marlborough	Southern terminus of I-495; is the same roadway as Route 25. Eastbound junction/westbound entrance.
				40.73	I-195 ends at I-495 / Route 25

References

Rhode Island portal

1. ^ Sabar, Ariel (3 October 1999) "Highway Blues" The Providence Journal from Internet Archive, accessed 12 May 2008
2. ^ "Moving and setting the Iway I-195 Providence River Bridge" Rhode Island Department of Transportation 2006, accessed 26 September 2006
3. ^ "195 Relocation Background". Providence College. http://www.providence.edu/polisci/students/indiapointpark/195background.html. Retrieved 2007-05-26. 
4. ^ Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation. 2007. "Interchange Exits List (I-195)". Downloaded from: http://www.eot.state.ma.us/default.asp?pgid=planning/disc/interchanges&sid=dtable August 7, 2011. (Massachusetts Mileage Only)

• Rhode Island State Highways/Map sources

External links

• RIDOT - Relocation of the I-95/I-195 Interchange
• Kurumi
• Bostonroads.com - East Providence Expressway
• Bostonroads.com - I-195 in Massachusetts

Browse numbered routes
← Route 193	MA	Route 197 →
← Route 179	RI	Route 214 →